Action and decision-making
Early research on action and decision-making was guided by the idea of a homo oeconomicus, i.e., a completely rational decision-maker. By now, however, there seems to be a broad consensus that human beings often violate the assumptions of the standard theory of rational choice. Instead, they use a number of heuristics that allow efficient decision-making under conditions of limited time, limited information, and limited cognitive resources. With the development of neuroimaging techniques, decision-making processes became a major research topic in the neurosciences and a large network of brain areas, including prefrontal and parietal cortices as well as the ventral striatum, were identified that contribute to decision-making. In line with prior rodent studies, we identified the orbitofrontal cortex as a locus of the goal-directed control of action and could show repeatedly that stress, through the action of glucocorticoids and noradrenaline, favors habit-based action, at the expense of goal-directed action. Moreover, using fMRI, we found that the tendency to ‘throw good money after bad money’ is mediated by the interplay of ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices.
We all make numerous decisions every day, with some being only of minor relevance and others having considerable consequences for the rest of our live. Moreover, decision-making deficits are a hallmark feature of several mental disorders and efficient decision-making is essential in modern working environments. Thus, research on the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying decision-making and action may have important implications for many areas and understanding how decision-making can be improved would be associated with personal, health-related, and economic benefits. In addition to the investigation of fundamental mechanisms of action and decision-making and their modulation by stress, we are increasingly interested in the impact other people have on our choice.
We are interested in questions such as:
- Which mechanisms are involved in the impact of past decisions on current choice?
- How and through which mechanisms can other people influence our choice?
- How do stress and major stress mediators modulate decision-making processes?
Selected publications:
Kluen LM, Agorastos A, Wiedemann K, Schwabe L (2017) Cortisol boosts risky decision-making behavior in men but not in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 84, 181-189.
Bogdanov, M., Ruff, C. C., & Schwabe, L. (2017). Transcranial stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex increases the impact of past expenses on decision-making. Cerebral Cortex, 27, 1094-1102.
Haller, A. & Schwabe, L. (2014). Sunk costs in the human brain. Neuroimage, 97, 127-133.